Published : 13-07-2021
Displaced Palestinian families wishing to return to their homes in Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus, continue to denounce the complicated red tape slapped by the Syrian authorities.
Speaking with AGPS on condition of anonymity, a resident said regime officers continue to force civilians wishing to gain access to their houses and retrieve their property to pay sums of money at government-run checkpoints.
“How can we afford to pay sums of up to 50,000 Syrian pounds at a time when we have run out of all our financial resources?” he said.
Residents of Yarmouk Camp continue to slam Damascus authorities over their apathy regarding their appeals to reconstruct destroyed premises and facilitate civilians’ return to the camp.
The refugees said none of the pledges made by Damascus Governorate regarding the rehabilitation of Yarmouk Camp have been materialized on the ground.
Yarmouk camp, once home to 160,000 Palestine refugees, suffered devastating destruction because of intense fighting that decimated most of the camp’s buildings.
Some 430 families who have returned to Yarmouk in the last few months say they had no option because they cannot afford to rent homes after several years of displacement. Their children go to the nearby al-Zahera schools in Damascus using buses provided by UNRWA. Seventy-five per cent of the Agency’s 23 premises, including 16 schools, need to be completely rebuilt and all three of the Agency’s health centres in Yarmouk are destroyed.
Displaced Palestinian families wishing to return to their homes in Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus, continue to denounce the complicated red tape slapped by the Syrian authorities.
Speaking with AGPS on condition of anonymity, a resident said regime officers continue to force civilians wishing to gain access to their houses and retrieve their property to pay sums of money at government-run checkpoints.
“How can we afford to pay sums of up to 50,000 Syrian pounds at a time when we have run out of all our financial resources?” he said.
Residents of Yarmouk Camp continue to slam Damascus authorities over their apathy regarding their appeals to reconstruct destroyed premises and facilitate civilians’ return to the camp.
The refugees said none of the pledges made by Damascus Governorate regarding the rehabilitation of Yarmouk Camp have been materialized on the ground.
Yarmouk camp, once home to 160,000 Palestine refugees, suffered devastating destruction because of intense fighting that decimated most of the camp’s buildings.
Some 430 families who have returned to Yarmouk in the last few months say they had no option because they cannot afford to rent homes after several years of displacement. Their children go to the nearby al-Zahera schools in Damascus using buses provided by UNRWA. Seventy-five per cent of the Agency’s 23 premises, including 16 schools, need to be completely rebuilt and all three of the Agency’s health centres in Yarmouk are destroyed.
